Michigan Democrat Says Senate Self-Driving Bill Release Possible in Summer
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., wouldn't give specifics about bipartisan legislation aimed at promoting the development and adoption of autonomous vehicles after a Wednesday Senate Commerce Committee hearing. "We've been working on this for quite some time," he told us. "We’ve been talking to stakeholders from the industry, from safety groups and everyone in between. It will be comprehensive and it will released shortly," hopefully before Congress leaves for the summer, he said.
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On Tuesday, Peters, Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., and ranking member Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who have been collaborating on the bill, released a framework (see 1706130068) for the legislation, including strengthening cybersecurity. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., asked witnesses at the hearing whether cars should have mandatory cybersecurity standards. He and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., introduced the Security and Privacy in Your Car (Spy Car) Act (see 1703220072) that would direct the FTC and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to establish standards to secure cars and protect privacy. "We should not have to choose as Americans between being connected and being protected," said Markey.
Most witnesses said cybersecurity standards should be voluntary, not mandatory. Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers CEO Mitch Bainwol told Markey that industry shares his concerns and objectives, but the best way to achieve them is through a "dynamic approach" because of fears that mandatory standards would become obsolete very quickly. Markey replied the standard could continually be raised but to have none "would be extremely dangerous."
"The nature of the risk of cybersecurity is changing so quickly, voluntary standards, frankly, have a better opportunity to keep up with that changing risk than any regulation could," said John Maddox, CEO of the American Center for Mobility, a testing ground for self-driving vehicles. He said voluntary cybersecurity standards also should be developed and would be more effective for traffic controls and signs and communications systems. Markey said industry in the past moved slowly with auto safety features absent mandates. "The best players move voluntarily, the worst players don't and the worst players are the ones that cause all the damage," he said.
Witnesses said Congress should address the patchwork of state laws regulating self-driving vehicles. Bainwol said 70 bills in 30 states address such vehicles, delaying their deployment. Nvidia's Rob Csongor, vice president-automotive business, said ideally his company could collect vast data from any state to improve the artificial intelligence technology that it supplies for self-driving vehicles, but a patchwork of state regulations hampers that. "It would be enormously beneficial to have a unified set of regulations across all states," he said. Industry representatives raised concerns about states regulating self-driving cars at prior hearings (see 1702130013 and 1703280005).
Consumer Watchdog, which has been critical about testing of some self-driving vehicles without proper oversight, slammed the committee for holding a hearing with an industry-dominated panel except for a representative from Mothers Against Drunk Driving. In a Wednesday letter to Thune and Nelson, the organization said it found self-driving cars "operating without mandatory safety, security, privacy and ethical standards will pose unprecedented risks to the American public." Recommendations include preserving state consumer protection laws to hold companies liable for future harms, not pre-empting stronger state-based laws and enacting enforceable standards. "Hardware and software manufacturers and insurance companies must be barred from utilizing tracking, sensor or communications data, or transferring it to third parties for commercial gain, absent separate written consent," it said.